The city of Lorain deserves credit for exploring what to do with municipal parks that aren’t getting much foot traffic these days.
City Council’s Parks and Recreation Committee met July 24 to discuss the green spaces and determine which they can maintain and whether to get rid of others.
Park and Recreation Department Superintendent Eric Lahetta and Public Property Department Director Lori Garcia answered questions during the meeting regarding a detailed report of each park.
No formal action was taken.
However, prior to the meeting, Lahetta submitted the documents to Safety-Service Director Sanford Washington.
Washington released a report that the administration is discussing what type of different agencies could effectively sponsor one of the parks and continue with the maintenance and programming needed.
City Hall is reviewing those parks that were no longer being effectively used, and administrators are thinking about ways the green spaces could be released back to a more natural state.
Staff created a list categorizing each of the city’s 56 parks that also was presented to the committee.
Lorain’s vast park system, which encompasses more than 800 acres, has provided countless hours of enjoyment and life-long memories for generations.
The city has 22 playgrounds, 19 baseball/softball fields, a splash pad and 16 basketball courts.
It also has tennis, volleyball and the now popular pickleball courts at Lakeview Park.
The city’s list of first tier parks, which are considered focus parks, are large properties which often are utilized for events, rentals, ball fields and other activities.
The focus parks include Lakeview, Oakwood, Campana, Central, Lakeview and Longfellow.
The second tier are neighborhood parks: Cityview, Fairless, Falbo, G Street, Garfield, Highview, Homewood, Johnnie Wilson, Maple, Pawlak, Streator, Westwood, Williamsburg or Gargasz, Willow and Veterans.
The tier three category included the underutilized parks that are located on smaller sized acreage and are sparingly used.
The tier three parks the administration is considering letting go to nature or giving to another entity are Harmons, Kneirum, Old Columbus, Porath, Pulaski, Sherwood and Sunny Acres.
A dozen residents attended the meeting to voice their opinion on the parks in their neighborhoods.
Some of them expressed interest in volunteering their time at their neighborhood parks by cutting grass and picking up litter.
Any resident who wants to volunteer can sign a waiver through City Hall to get permission.
Additionally, residents taking their pets to the parks must follow rules regarding animals.
By city ordinance, any dog at a park must be on a leash no longer than six feet long and their handlers are responsible for cleaning up any mess their pets may leave.
Ward 8 Councilman Joshua Thornsberry is concerned that in his ward, on Lorain’s west side, there only are three parks.
Thornsberry believes those parks are necessary to his ward and believes they should receive attention instead of being shut down.
Officials applauded the parks’ staff for its diligent work in collecting and presenting the information.
When talking about partnerships, one that has worked out quite well is the one between the city of Lorain and Lorain County Metro Parks.
The Metro Parks operate the north side of Lakeview Park, Lakeview Beach and the Historical Rose Garden.
This is Metro Parks’ first lakeside recreational park, which offers 20 acres along the north side of West Erie Avenue.
The Metro Parks’ also operates Century Park and the Harbor House.
Lakeview and Century parks are on Lake Erie and are 2.5 miles away and a six-minute drive from each other.
Perhaps, the city could enter into agreements with other groups to manage one of the sparingly used parks.
What the city must not do is to let go of its mission, even if it hands over the less used parks to another entity, which is to beautify the parks and develop recreational standards commensurate with the need of the community by continuously exploring options that will improve the system and enhance the park and recreation experience for residents.
It also must never forget its purpose, which is to maintain park land for recreational purpose, and enhance the personal, societal and economic benefits that impact the citizens pursuit of recreation and leisure.
Lorain parks are an integral part of the city’s past, present, and certainly will factor into its future.
